Laguna Esmeralda in Ushuaia

Ushuaia has many places of interest for hikers and it is often difficult to chose the ones from the list. Pristine lakes normally arouse my interest and it was natural for me to chose Laguna Esmeralda. The photos looked beautiful but many people complained about the trail being muddy. I had second thoughts about this trek for sometime but the lake was too beautiful to resist.

 

The starting point of the trek was about 15 km from Ushuaia, the distance which I had to cover by a public van that departs at specific time. I booked it from the hotel. The van arrived promptly on time and dropped us to the starting point of the trek. He said that he will come back at 3PM and 5 PM to pick us back.

 

The hike can be logically split into 4 parts.

1. Initial walk in the forest
2. Peat moss
3. Second stage in forest
4. Walk next to the stream

1. Initial walk in the forest

The initial trail was through a beautiful forest. Unlike Tierra Del Fuego National park where I was with a company of trekkers, I found myself alone walking on the path. I was not too worried as the trail was very clear and I was sure that there were people walking ahead and behind me!! “Digital maps” gave a feeling of support in the case of getting lost. I just walked and enjoyed the surroundings. 

2. Peat moss

After walking in the forest for some time, I reached an open area of peat moss (decaying plants taking long time to decompose creating layers of soft moss) . The view of the mountains was visible. Laguna Esmeralda must be at the base of those mountains!! The walk would have been difficult if not for wooden trails placed on the path. Else, there is no definite trail in peat moss and it could get muddy. Anyway, I just enjoyed the views of the mountains as I crossed the peat moss.

3. Second stage in forest

Crossing peat moss led to the forests again and the trail continuously climbed up. The path was very muddy and it could get worse during rains. The weather was cloudy but the forecast had predicted clear weather during the course of the day. 

4. Walk next to the stream

As the forest thinned again and the area opened up, I saw a difficult scene.

A large group of students was ahead of me and one person was stuck in the mud. Initially, I though he was just struggling but as I went nearby it turned out that the area was extremely muddy. The boy was struck in a knee deep mud. His efforts to come out only made his legs go deeper in the mud. He was a fat person and it not improve things. Luckily, his companion continuously helped him and finally he was out of the mud.

 

It meant that the main path was not good to walk. There was no point in getting struck in such places. I had to take a long detour avoiding soft ground. The path finally joined the main trail and it was then going next to a stream, which was originating from the lake. The last stretch to the lake was slippery but I could climb it without any incident. As I climbed up, a big “Wow” came out of my mouth.

Laguna Esmeralda

It was standing in front of Laguna Esmeralda and it was so beautiful. Surrounded by snow clad mountains, it was just amazing. Very similar to the high altitude lakes in Himalayas!! (Read about the Himalayan lakes – Chandratal, Sopona lake, Dhankar lake, Gurudongmar, Pangong lake, Tso Moriri, Tso Kar, Manasa Sarovar ) I spent a long time walking next to the lake. Sitting on a outcrop, I cherished the beauty of the place. 

Encounter with Andean fox!!

I was again alone while coming back. I rested at a place in the forest stretch eat an Apple. Feeling that someone was watching me, I turned around to see an Andean Fox at a very close distance staring at me. My initial reaction was shock as I could not understand the reason for it to stare at me. “Was it looking for Apple?”, I didn’t know. I was not well versed with the food habits of fox though I knew that they are capable of eating anything that comes easy!! Anyway, I did not see any malicious intent in its eyes. As I was thinking about these things, one hand had already picked up the camera and clicked few close up snaps. The encounter lasted for couple of mins after which it got bored and moved away. A nice experience!!

Final words

It is an easy trek and would take about 1.5 – 2 hours each way. But the only thing to look out is for the mud conditions. Be prepared to get muddy if it rains!! It is possible to climb up further but it requires to go via an agency. Another easy getaway is Laguna Turquesa which is on the other side of the main road.